1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle driving support control apparatus that accurately selects a vehicle ahead, which is a subject against which control should be performed, by utilizing vehicle-ahead information detected by a detection sensor, such as a front image recognition device, mounted to the vehicle, and vehicle information detected by inter-vehicle communications, in order to perform a driving support.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, various driving support apparatuses have been proposed for a vehicle, in which a front environment is monitored based upon information acquired from an ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems), inter-vehicle communication system, onboard image processing system, radar apparatus and the like, in order to achieve safety driving. These apparatuses have been commercially available.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-195641 discloses a vehicle information providing apparatus. In the vehicle information providing apparatus, a multilevel indicating the number of detecting units, including an obstacle sensor, vehicle roadside communication and inter-vehicle communication, when each of the detecting unit detects the same object, and a sum of reliability set to the detecting units detecting the object are obtained, and a total reliability is determined based upon these factors. As the reliability is predicted to be higher from the total reliability, a driving support having higher level is executed.
However, when an obstacle, which is a subject against which control should be performed, is determined with the reliability set separately due to the difference of the detecting units as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-195641, the difference in the detecting units for detecting an obstacle is reflected on the control, but the actual driving condition and the difference in the driving environment is not reflected thereon. Therefore, a driver using the technique feels a sense of discomfort for the control, which entails a problem that usability is poor.